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Author 국제팀 Hit 2489 Date 2025-07-15 오전 11:33:00
Subject

[Commentary]Toward Reform and Improvement of the Established Law School System
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It Is Time to Seek Improvements and Supplementary Measures 
for the Established Law School System

In December 2015, under the Park Geun-hye administration, the Ministry of Justice announced its plan to extend the national bar examination—originally scheduled to be abolished in 2017 under the established law school implementation policy—for an additional four years. This announcement sparked significant institutional instability and social conflict. Nevertheless, following public deliberation and consensus, the national bar examination was ultimately abolished. This episode severely undermined public trust in the fairness and stability of the legal education system.

It is deeply regrettable that similar debates over the legal education system continue to persist to this day. Allegations raised against the law school system have already been found—largely—to be inconsistent with facts, as confirmed by the Legal Education System Advisory Committee under the Legislation and Judiciary Committee in 2015. We express serious concern about certain media outlets and organizations that continue to amplify and circulate these claims without verifying them against objective data and statistics.

Admissions to law schools in Korea are based on objective, multidimensional assessments—including undergraduate academic performance, the Legal Education Eligibility Test (LEET), language proficiency, and interview evaluations. The fairness and legitimacy of this admissions system have been verified through multiple assessments and institutional reviews. Since the adoption of the law school system, there has been a marked increase in the diversity of academic backgrounds among legal professionals, along with broader representation across different universities. Moreover, individuals entering the legal profession through alternative academic routes—such as the Bachelor's Degree Examination for Self-Education or the Academic Credit Bank System—have significantly increased.

According to data from the Association of Korean Law Schools, between 2017 and 2022, 19.11% of enrolled students received full scholarships, while 50.17% received at least partial scholarship support. From 2009 to 2021, over a span of 13 years, law schools awarded approximately KRW 402.4 billion in total scholarships—equating to an annual average of about KRW 31 billion.

In addition to institutional scholarships, law school students have access to ultra-low-interest loans from the Korea Student Aid Foundation, which may also be used to cover living expenses, as well as loans from major commercial banks. The argument that individuals from economically disadvantaged backgrounds are effectively excluded from legal education is a distorted perception that contradicts objective statistical realities. In fact, the participation of socially and economically disadvantaged groups in the legal profession has expanded significantly.

The Korean Bar Association calls for a shift in discourse—from rehashing outdated controversies that fuel institutional confusion and social division—to addressing the actual structural challenges of the current law school system.

At present, the operation of law schools appears to be increasingly misaligned with the core objectives of legal education reform as envisioned by the Presidential Commission on Judicial Reform. In particular, the Vacancy Replenishment System has led to substantial distortions between the intended goals of legal education and the actual practices of law school administration. Certain law schools have seen bar passage rates drop below 30%, raising serious questions about their qualifications as institutions tasked with training legal professionals. Rather than implementing fundamental solutions, some institutions rely on procedural loopholes merely to maintain their status.

In this context, the Korean Bar Association makes the following proposals:

First, a joint consultative body should be established comprising representatives from the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, as well as the Korean Bar Association. This body should engage in comprehensive discussions not only to explore improvements and policy supplements to the law school system, but also to address broader judicial reform agendas—such as citizen-centered legal processes and the expansion of legal service delivery by attorneys.

Second, a thorough review should be undertaken to determine whether law schools are operating in line with the original vision outlined by the Presidential Commission on Judicial Reform. As Korea surpassed the OECD average number of lawyers by around 2022, the normalization of lawyer supply must now be seriously considered, including the restructuring or consolidation of overlapping professional licenses—an initiative originally promised under the assumption of continued expansion of the legal profession.

Third, structural reforms must be introduced to improve law school operations. The Vacancy Replenishment System should be abolished, and law schools must strictly comply with the legally mandated admission quotas in order to restore the integrity and quality of legal education. Institutions that fail to meet the basic standards expected of legal education providers must be subject to consolidation or de-authorization, thus establishing a foundation for long-overdue reform.

June 27, 2025

Korean Bar Association 
President Kim Jung-wook 

※ Notes for Readers:

■ Vacancy Replenishment System: This system allows law schools in Korea to fill vacancies arising from student withdrawals or other reasons by admitting additional students, up to 10% of the enrollment quota, in the following academic year. It was initially introduced to address financial and operational challenges during the early years of law school implementation in Korea.

■​The Association of Korean Law School: A central body that compiles and shares data about law school performance and financial aid.

■​ Presidential Commission on Judicial Reform (2005- 2006)

The Presidential Committee on Judicial Reform was formed on January 18, 2005, as a presidential advisory body, to facilitate implementation of the judicial reform proposals that have been recommended by the Judicial Reform Committee. This committee focused on accomplishing an even more democratic, fair, and efficient judiciary with more openness and transparency.

The judicial reform proposals that have been discussed comprised of various issues including establishment of graduate-level law schools, promoting the public participation in the judicial proceedings, and substantially reforming the criminal law system.

In 2007 the reform procedure came into fruition as the Amendment of Criminal Procedure Act. In addition, the Law School Act which will introduce professional law school system and Act on Lay Participation during Criminal Trials (provisional title) allowing lay participation of selected criminal trials were enacted.





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